The Complete A-Z Of The Undertaker

4. W - WrestleMania

The Undertaker
www.wwe.com

With such a remarkable legacy at the 'Show of Shows', The Undertaker's performances have had book, DVDs and thousands of hours of television time dedicated to them.

It's fitting that one of the company's most important performers can be remembered solely on the basis of his work on the biggest stage, with the good, bad and ugly of The Undertaker there for all to see across 25 diverse contests.

The embryonic phases of the gimmick are evidenced in his Jimmy Snuka and Jake Roberts squashes, whilst his giant-slaying (with varying degrees of quality) can be found against Giant Gonzalez, King Kong Bundy, Sid, Big Boss Man, The Big Show, A-Train and Mark Henry. His 1998 and 2004 battles with Kane tell different stories but mark important checkpoints for both characters and their complex relationship.

The loss of the Streak at WrestleMania 30 started a lousy decline that foreshadowed a necessary retirement for his ageing frame. Matches against Bray Wyatt, Shane McMahon and Roman Reigns were all poor, but will be excused over generations in comparison to the latter efforts of his older contemporaries.

And away from those, he had some outstanding matches on the 'Showcase of the Immortals'. Contests with Diesel, Randy Orton, Batista, Edge and CM Punk stole shows, whilst his back-to-back-to-back-to-back rivalry with Shawn Michaels and Triple H crafted at least two (and arguably four) of the best matches in company history.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett